Free-agent quarterback Kirk Cousins agreed to terms on a contract with the Las Vegas Raiders, his agent announced Thursday.
The contract structure is unique, according to details from The Athletic’s Dianna Russini, and it helped the Raiders and Cousins circumvent offset language on his previous deal.
Cousins signed a four-year, $180 million contract with the Atlanta Falcons in 2024. He played two seasons on that deal. On March 11, the Falcons cut him. They were still on the hook for $10 million in guaranteed money they owed him as part of that four-year deal.
That $10 million was subject to offsets. If Cousins had not signed elsewhere, he would have received that $10 million from the Falcons. If he signed elsewhere, the salary with the new team would offset that $10 million. If he signed with a new team for $5 million, the Falcons would owe the remaining $5 million.
In his deal with the Raiders, Cousins’ base salary in 2026 is the league minimum of $1.3 million. The Falcons must pay the remaining $8.7 million.
Cousins is still a capable starter based on how he played down the stretch of the 2025 season. A salary of $10 million for 2026 is closer to quality backup money than low-level starter money based on the makeup of the quarterback market. Cousins was justified in believing he is worth more than $10 million. His 2025 film backs that stance.
The tricky part was navigating the offsets. The Raiders could have paid him market rate. However, if they signed Cousins for a base salary of $10 million or more, they would have been responsible for that entire salary. They would not have benefited from the offset language.
So the Raiders increased Cousins’ compensation by including a fully guaranteed $10 million roster bonus that is due in March 2027. The Raiders will pay Cousins his $1.3 million base salary in 2026 and the roster bonus in 2027 — $11.3 million in total. Cousins, meanwhile, will make $20 million — the $11.3 million plus the $8.7 million he is still due from the Falcons. The roster bonus is not subject to the offset language. The Raiders also included a two-year, $80 million team option for 2027 and 2028.
The Raiders have the No. 1 pick in the draft, and they are expected to select Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza. Yet, new Raiders coach Klint Kubiak told reporters at the annual league meetings this week that he would prefer to have a rookie quarterback sit in his first season.
“It does help the player if they can sit behind a mature adult and watch how they run the show,” Kubiak said.
Cousins is that mature adult, and $20 million is a reasonable price for a starter. The New York Jets, for instance, paid Justin Fields $20 million in cash in 2025 to be their starter.
As an added benefit, Cousins played for Kubiak in 2021 when Kubiak was the Minnesota Vikings’ offensive coordinator. Cousins has also played for numerous other offensive coaches from this coaching tree, including Mike and Kyle Shanahan, Sean McVay, Kevin O’Connell and Zac Robinson.
Other veteran quarterbacks were in a similar position to Cousins this free-agency cycle. The Arizona Cardinals cut Kyler Murray. The Miami Dolphins cut Tua Tagovailoa. Murray had offset language and signed a veteran minimum deal with the Vikings. Tagovailoa had offset language and signed a veteran minimum deal with the Falcons.
The difference, though, was how much guaranteed money those two were owed. The Cardinals were on the hook for $36.8 million guaranteed. The Dolphins for $54 million guaranteed. Murray and Tagovailoa were never going to be underpaid in 2026 because of the guaranteed money remaining on those deals.
The same was not the case for Cousins, who collaborated with the Raiders to find a solution and produce market-rate compensation on this new deal.